Guardian Gaming Night: video games, the military and morality

Location

Speaker information

Dr Felix Ciuta, University College London, lecturer and expert in geopolitics, the military and mass culture
Kyle Grayson, Newcastle University, lecturer and researcher who has written on drones, the "playstation mentality" and on the military in popular culture
Marcus Schulzke, Leeds University, currently researching the militarisation of video games and social media
Simon Parkin, a journalist who has investigated the relationship between arms manufacturers and military video game developers
Ed Stern, Splash Damage, a game narrative designer who has worked on several first-person shooters including Brink and the forthcoming Dirty Bomb
Tim Browne, ex-Codemasters, a designer on the acclaimed Operation Flashpoint series of military strategy shooters
Keith Stuart, Guardian games editor

Military shooters like Call of Duty and Battlefield sell in their millions, dominating the charts and presenting a very particular view of war and how it is fought. Fans call it escapist entertainment, but with armies recruiting directly from gamer communities, and drone warfare becoming ever more automated and game-like, how long can developers absolve themselves of sociopolitical responsibility? Is it still OK to play at being soldiers in games that barely register the complex realities of the conflicts they represent? And what can more fantastical shooters like Halo, Destiny and Evolve tell us about the meaning of violence as interactive entertainment?

To discuss this issue, Guardian games editor Keith Stuart will be joined by Dr Felix Ciuta (UCL SSEES) amongst others.